Google in San Jose: Citizens hold prayer rally to hold company accountable

Share this:

Mercy Chan is currently living on the streets and attends a rally and prayer vigil at the corner of Park Avenue and Montgomery Street in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The rally and vigil organized by CHAM Deliverance Ministry and the Affordable Housing Network aimed to put pressure on the city into requiring 20,000 affordable housing units be built to offset the impact of the Google Diridon project and associated service jobs it creates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Mercy Chan, left, who is currently living on the streets, listens as Pastor Scott Wagers, right, with CHAM Deliverance Ministry speaks during a rally and prayer vigil at the corner of Park Avenue and Montgomery Street in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The rally and vigil organized by CHAM Deliverance Ministry and the Affordable Housing Network aimed to put pressure on the city into requiring 20,000 affordable housing units be built to offset the impact of the Google Diridon project and associated service jobs it creates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Junior Nolasco with CHAM Deliverance Ministry attends a rally and prayer vigil at the corner of Park Avenue and Montgomery Street in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The rally and vigil organized by CHAM Deliverance Ministry and the Affordable Housing Network aimed to put pressure on the city into requiring 20,000 affordable housing units be built to offset the impact of the Google Diridon project and associated service jobs it creates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Pastor Scott Wagers with CHAM Deliverance Ministry speaks during a rally and prayer vigil at the corner of Park Avenue and Montgomery Street in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The rally and vigil organized by CHAM Deliverance Ministry and the Affordable Housing Network aimed to put pressure on the city into requiring 20,000 affordable housing units be built to offset the impact of the Google Diridon project and associated service jobs it creates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

A “Welcome to Googleville” is on display at a rally and prayer vigil at the corner of Park Avenue and Montgomery Street in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The rally and vigil organized by CHAM Deliverance Ministry and the Affordable Housing Network aimed to put pressure on the city into requiring 20,000 affordable housing units be built to offset the impact of the Google Diridon project and associated service jobs it creates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE — Google’s planned downtown campus threatens to worsen San Jose’s housing crisis and homelessness, but it gives the company a chance to strike a blow against both, said participants in a prayer rally on Thursday.

“Google, we pray for you,” minister Scott Wagers said as about 15 people held hands at an intersection in the development zone. “Open your eyes and see the opportunity. You can end homelessness.”

Google is working with the city of San Jose on plans to build a campus around the Diridon transit station, with up to 20,000 workers and six to eight million square feet of space.

Thursday’s noon-hour rally, called “Welcome to Googleville” to recall the Great Depression’s “Hooverville” homeless camps, was organized by the Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County and CHAM Deliverance Ministry, a San Jose group dedicated to helping homeless people.

The groups want the city government to use its leverage “to hold Google accountable to doing no harm,” said Sandy Perry, president of the housing network and a CHAM minister.

An influx of thousands of Google employees into San Jose residences would lead to displacement of people making lower wages, Perry said.

“We have a horrible housing crisis right now and no one wants to take responsibility for it,” Perry said.

San Jose should require Google to pay for 20,000 units of affordable housing in the city, Perry said. “If they want to be part of this community they have a responsibility,” Perry said.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said the city had only just started negotiating with Google over potential sale of land.

“I look forward to having very public discussions in the months ahead about how we as a community can work with Google to address critical needs, such as affordable housing,” Liccardo said.

Get tech news in your inbox weekday mornings. Sign up for the free Good Morning Silicon Valley newsletter.

In the meantime, suggested Robert Aguirre, a recently homeless member of CHAM, Google and the city should create officially sanctioned homeless encampments on land the firm’s development partner has bought.

Google declined to comment specifically on what the rally leaders and participants want the company to do.

“We’re excited to have the support of the San Jose city council as we evaluate our options at Diridon Station,” a Google spokeswoman said.

Ethan Baron is a business reporter at The Mercury News, and a native of Silicon Valley before it was Silicon Valley. Baron has worked as a reporter, columnist, editor and photographer in newspapers and magazines for 25 years, covering business, politics, social issues, crime, the environment, outdoor sports, war and humanitarian crises.

Racist caricatures scribbled on walls and cardboard boxes. Racial epithets directed at black, factory employees. Three former Tesla factory employees charge in a new suit that the environment at the Tesla factory in Fremont is hostile with racial antagonism and unwelcome to African American worers “kjl;adf,” he said. The electric vehicle maker has come under siege from its factory workers...